Trustees are the people in charge of a charity. They play a vital role, volunteering their time and working together to make important decisions about the charity's work. Trustees' Week is an annual event to showcase the great work that trustees do and highlight opportunities for people from all walks of life to get involved and make a difference. Trustees’ Week 2015 is 2–8 November, and is being officially launched at the NCVO / BWB Trustee Conference on 2 November 2015.

Sunday, 8 March 2015

This article is written by the Charity Commission Outreach team, in celebration of International Women's Day.

Trustees’ Week is into its sixth year,
each having built on the success of the last by showcasing the great work of
trustees and highlighting the opportunities for people from all walks of life
to get involved and make a difference.

The call for charities to consider the
benefits of increasing the diversity of their trustee board has been a
consistent message of the campaign. A diverse trustee board is more likely to
contain a range of skills and experience than a board which is more narrowly
based. Where trustees are recruited from a wide range of backgrounds, we
believe that the governance arrangements of the charity will benefit.

Unsurprisingly, in comparison to the
private sector we have a good story to tell about the diversity on boards. However
various pieces of research over the last five years have shown that there is
still room for improvement; room to increase the number of trustees that have a
disability, that come from an ethnic background, that are women, and the number
of younger people.

Out of all these, the headline figure
for the balance of men and women on boards is the most encouraging – recent research put that figure at 48% of trustees are
female, and 52% are male.

But it is also an opportunity to
encourage more women to step forward and more trustee boards to reflect on how
diverse they are. Despite the encouraging headline figure, when we look more
closely it becomes apparent that although some sub-sectors do have balanced
boards others still have room for improvement.

According to an NCVO almanac, health charities and village halls had the most equal split of male
and female trustees. However, out of eighteen sub-sectors only four had more
female trustees than male trustees. Take a moment to think about who sits on
your board. Could it be more balanced?

If the answer is yes then there may be
some simple changes you can make to the way you recruit your trustees.

A study by the Institute of Philanthropy found that around half of trustees are
appointed through personal recommendations which can lead to recruitment from a
narrow pool. There are a number of services that can assist charities in their
search for trustees; broadening the pool and finding those that will have the
right skills and will make the best fit for the charity.

Achieving greater diversity at board
level may include having some trustees from parts of the community which have
traditionally not played a large part in the charity. This is not about
imposing modern values on traditional charities, but about trustees putting the
interests of the charity first by establishing effective governance.

If your answer was yes - your board
should be better balanced, then some of the supporters of Trustees' Week may be
able to help: Getting on Board and Reach
Volunteering both offer services to help match a
charity with a new trustee.

This year’s theme for International Women’s Day is
#MakeItHappen; encouraging effective action for advancing and recognising
women. Take time to reflect on the make-up of your trustee board and whether it
could be better.